Connie Collins, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

October 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

I have one more idea for trick or treat before I move on to other things. Here is a quick idea that you can put together rather quickly and with Halloween only a few days away, that is probably a good thing.

This is what your MDS page might look like if you want to put everything on one sheet. I laid it out so that you can get two treat per page. (Note: it may be more cost effective to lay it out with four backgrounds on one sheet and everything else on another. I just did it this way to give you an idea.) I also made extra medallions just in case I messed up and punched it incorrectly.

I filled the treat bags with candy corn and tied it with a piece of ribbon. I attached it to the card with a piece of Sticky Strip adhesive. That is basically all there is to it. Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday, October 21, 2011

I promised to let you know when the projects were posted on Stampin' Up!'s Facebook page. They went "live" this afternoon. All I can say is that they are amazing. This is the project I submitted for the gallery. I told you earlier that I like to keep my projects for Halloween fun and upbeat, so that is why I chose to create cupcake toppers with My Digital Studio and a few traditional supplies that I already had.

Here is a close up of the individual cupcakes. I think I gained five pounds just looking at them. I wish I could say that I made the cupcakes themselves, but I am not that talented. I purchased them from the bakery department of a major chain and added the toppers. After I finished photographing them, I carried them to our downline meeting and we all got a tasty treat. I managed to sneak out before anyone noticed that I had left a few behind...better to apply the excess to somebody else's hips than mine!

These were really simple to make. I downloaded the Spooky Treats Designer Template for MDS. To access the treat designs, open an 8.5"x11" Designer Template. These are on page one. They were origially designed to be added to a sucker or candy straws, but I just cut them out by hand. I printed some 2"x2" squares of the coordinating digital DSP and used my 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch to punch out the background pieces. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I used a hot glue gun to attach them to the toothpicks and then covered the back with another circle of card stock to hide the glue and give them a professional finish.

I couldn't resist adding some bling, so I punched 1 1/4" circles from Basic Black CS and backed them with some 1 3/8" circles punched from the Silver Glimmer Paper (#124005) from the Holiday Mini Catalog. All the pieces of the set work so well together that you can mix and match everything for a fun and fast treat.

I hope you had the chance to visit the Facebook Gallery page. Stampin' Up! has asked the 2011 Artisan Award Winners to submit a project each month, so be sure to check back.

I have been feeling a little bit guilty about neglecting my blog lately, so I decided to try my hand at the new Clean & Simple Staming sketch this week. I really like this sketch because it has so many possibilities. I have been wanting to try my hand at making pinwheels, so I started with some one inch squares of Just Add Cake dsp (124339) and in just a matter of a couple of minutes I had three adorable little pinwheels for my layout.

I honestly started to work with a basic Whisper White card, but accidentally got something on it. I decided that it must be fate, so covered it with some coordinating DSP from the same collection. I was a little concerned that my greeting wouldn't show up well on the striped background, so I stamped it with VersaMark ink and embossed it with the Wild Wasabi embossing powder. I absoultely love this new color of embossing powder!

This is what the original sketch looks like. Yes, it's pretty basic, but that is what C&S stamping is. OK, now that I don't feel so guilty anymore, I am going to head on out and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather. Here's one more look at today's card.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It's no secret that I am not a huge fan of Halloween. Sure, I enjoy the "trick or treat" part, but I just don't go for that super scarey stuff that some people seem to go nuts about. I don't decorate specifically for Halloween...I usually just decorate for "Autumn" and that gets me through until I am ready to start "decking the halls" for Christimas (my favorite holiday). So when the Artisan Award winners all received a phone call asking us for a project to post on the Stampin' Up! Facebook Wall, I really didn't know what to do. I didn't even order any Halloween-themed stamps or paper this year. Instead, I played around with My Digital Studio to see if I could come up with a digital hybrid project. I sent my project photo in last night but I can't share it with you until after it posts on Facebook. Don't get too excited because it really isn't a show-stopper, but it is cute, I guess.

Being a perfectionist, I played around for a couple of days trying to come up with a project...so here is one of the projects that I didn't submit. I created the box base in MDS with the Wicked Fun digital download (#127609), printed it out on my color printer and then used my new Simply Scored tool to create a quick and easy box. The DSP measured 4.25"x11". Then I scored it at 1.5", 5.25", 6.75", and 10.5". I scored the bottom of the box at 1". On the same sheet I printed a 1"x11" strip of paper that I turned into the medallion and also resized the "spooky" oval to fit inside a 1.75" cirlce punch.

Here is something fun that you may not spot right away. I thought the silver shimmer paper was a little too bright, so I punched out a 2 3/8" scallop circle, placed it on a disposable paper plate, and then used Jet Black Staz-on reinker to tone it down. I used some inexpensive disposable paint brushes to spread the ink around. This technique won't work with regular reinkers because the ink won't dry, but it turned out great with Staz-on.That is pretty much all there is to it. I'll be back in a couple of days to share another last-minute Halloween project.

Monday, October 17, 2011

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I would share with you some of my past Halloween favorites. Most of you know that I am don't really go crazy about Halloween, but every once in a blue moon I get a creative spark when it comes this holiday. I designed this witch hat treat box almost three years ago. It was one of my entries in the Artisan Award competition in 2009. I have seen it "re-made" several times and most people don't know to give me credit. There are even a couple of video tutorials on YouTube telling how to make it...too funny. But this is the one that started it all. It was on display at SU convetion that year. Once you submit a project for any SU contest (including Artisan Award), it becomes the property of SU and they are free to use it any way they want.

It is a treat box that you can open and put candy in. I wish I could take credit for the triangle box that forms the base. I learned how to make those a long time ago. One day a little light bulb went off in my head and I realized that it would make the cutest witch hat by just adding a cardstock brim.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Stampin' Up! has asked the Artisan Award winners to design a project to share on their Facebook Artist Project Wall. Everything is due this Wednesday, so I am frantically trying to come up with a last minute "original" idea. I'll be back soon, I promise.

Saturday, October 08, 2011

I love autumn. I love the beautiful leaves as they change colors. I love the fact that the weather is beautiful. About the only thing I don't like is the ragweed...but that is another story...I am trying to stay positive here! Every year I decorate the china hutch in my kitchen. This year I decided to make a fun little plaque to hang in the center. I don't know about where you live, but here in the south this saying is appropriate. It's no secret that I have a little bit of a southern accent...I can see my friends from Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and even Canada grinning right now...but honestly, I don't really say "y'all" much...I just thought it would be a fun expression.

It all started with a cute little wooden crow that I found at the craft store. I disassembled it and traced it for a pattern. Basically, just about everything on this project is either current or retired Stampin' Up! product with exception of the wood plaque and the gingham fabric along the bottom. I used the Big Shot to complete most of the elements on this page...the lettering, flowers, and pumpkin were all done with dies. The background is from the Time Worn DSP collection as well as the woodgrain paper on the word "FALL". I am not going to go into great detail on this one, but if you have a specific question, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer.

My friend, Lorri Heiling, inspired me to organize my home, so that's exactly what I have been doing. I have also been crafting some, but I just don't have anything else finished to the point that I can share. But be patient! Good things come to those who wait!

Oh, one more thing. If you've been looking for an opportunity to do what you love, while getting a 20% discount on your favorite products, now is the perfect time! During October, you'll get a FREE Big Shot when you join the Stampin' Up! family as a demonstrator.* Use the Big Shot die-cutting machine and Stampin' Up!'s exclusive dies** to create uniquely beautiful projects in a flash. In addition, the new-demonstrator Starter Kit--a steal at just $175--contains over $345 worth of stamp sets, card stock, ink, accessories, and business supplies-everything you need to start your new business.

There are so many benefits of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, including